South African Steam Trains – Mighty Bethlehem

No, this is not the holy shrine in Israel, but it is a magical experience for rail fans from South Africa. It was the place to head to on weekends in 1974-6 when I was living in Johannesburg, although petrol on the weekends could be a little tricky.

25NC 3415 on a cold winter’s morning on the Bethlehem Passenger

How I Came To South Africa

My South African Adventure started at the County Clare Hotel in the middle of Sydney, Australia. Here on a Tuesday night a group of desperate rail fans met and talked about the good old days of steam. This was around 1973, the year main line steam ended in NSW, and between beers, many of us dreamed of visiting the remaining countries where steam was still in abundance.

An undue influence was one A E (Dusty) Durrant, who unfortunately is no longer with us. Amazingly the last time I saw him was in Laurenco Marques (now Maputo) in Mozambique where he went past on a bus. We were going to try to get a photographic permit and he told us not to waste our time.

A taste of what is to come as a 25 pours thick black smoke as it races along the Bethlehem line

I think Dusty had come to Australia to witness the last of the 60 class Garratts. The final one was built in 1956, and made a great display climbing Fassifern bank on a full coal load. He competed his landmark work on South Africa, “Steam On The Veld” in 1972, and spoke eloquently of the amazing railway system in that country.

Dusty returned to South Africa and we moved our drinking hole down the road to the “Great Western”. Like the County Clare this was sandwiched in between the Tooths Sydney Brewery. We were rather partial to a drop of amber ale in those days.

I fondly remember Becky the Barmaid, who took it upon herself to experiment with our group, preparing a wide range of cocktails. My memories of these are kind of vague, as at the end of the night we would roll out on the street and somehow find our way home. You just can’t do this sort of thing anymore! I do recall the “blue Angel” was one of my favourites.

The Trip Over

One by one the group diminished as everyone started moving to South Africa. By mid 1974, we figured if we wanted to see our friends again, we might as well join the crowd. I resigned my job and headed west. It was a long flight in those days on a Boeing 707. We stopped at Melbourne, Perth and Mauritius. Nowadays you fly direct from Sydney. The plane was heavily loaded leaving Melbourne. The pilot took every inch of runway and we watched the wings flex as speed slowly increased to eventually have us airborne.

20 hours later we arrived in South Africa. The pilot took us for a tour around Johannesburg, circling the city while we waited for a clearance to land. Back in those days these things were possible. Our friend Rags met us at the airport and offered a hearty breakfast. Unfortunately we had been fed so many times of the plane and my body clock was completely out of sorts, so I didn’t eat much.

The Background

In 1974, there was an oil embargo on South Africa. The Cricket and Rugby teams were being excluded from world competition, and the rest of the world was trying to squeeze the country to abandon Apartheid. There were petrol restrictions and you could only carry 10 liters of extra fuel and you couldn’t buy petrol on weekends. The rail Fans were well organised and had carefully placed jerry cans at strategic spots to enable weekend photography.

Pardon me recalling the circumstance by which I landed in this amazing country. Now to the subject at hand, the Bethlehem line.

South African Rail Map

Steam Trains At Bethlehem

The distance from Bethlehem to Bloemfontein is around 260 kms. From Johannesburg to Bethlehem we had to drive around 230 kms. Due to petrol restrictions, the maximum speed was 80 kph, so it took around 4 hours for the drive.

Bethlehem Loco Depot 1976

This line ran close to the border with Lesotho, a country completely encircled by South Africa, and was near the Drakensburg Mountains. Possible the biggest attraction of this line was the use of 25NC class 4-8-4s. These were magnificent and powerful machines, mainly used for crossing the Karoo Desert prior to electrification. A number of them were assigned to Bloemfontein and Bethlehem Depots.

25 NC in full flight catches the early morning light

For me the lighting was the most amazing feature of this stretch of Railway line. Sure, the motive power was superb, and the scenery spectacular, but some of the early morning and late afternoon shots really drew on those magnificent African sunsets, a feature unlike anywhere else on the planet.

Early morning light, cold weather and steam, make for a spectacular scene

One of the 25 class, 3415 had its smoke detectors painted blue. Interestingly, a recent commenter on this blog says his dad was in charge of the engine at that time. The enginemen at Bethlehem took pride in their assigned locos and kept them in immaculate condition.

3407 with blue smoke deflectors storms out of a stop in brilliant sunshine

Occasionally you would see a double header on the line. I only managed to chase one of these, but got a great shot with the Drakensberg in the background. I think this mainly happened for engine transfers.

Some of the scenery on this line renders a photograph more like a painting

As in all parts of the world, weather plays an important part in the appearance of the landscape. Because the winters in the Free State were cold and dry, most people spent the winter photographing in this area. I have a habit of going out of season. While this produces many challenges such as getting bogged in mud, and being rained or snowed on, it provides for some great shots.

You will notice some of my shots are taken in the dry, Cold winter, while others are in summer where it rains frequently, but the scenery is much greener.

The backdrop is much greener on this summer shot taken in brilliant sunshine

On my grand tour by rail, I was lucky enough to ride in the cab of a 25NC on this line for quite some distance. This was the fastest trip I had in South Africa, at least in the cab.

Yet another brilliant scenic spot on the Bethlehem line

While most of my shots are of the passenger trains on account of they were regular and ran at the right time of day. There were a number of freight movements too.

25NC hauls a freight on the Bethlehem line

You can see that this line really was fabulous and a rail photographers paradise. A friend of mine, Mike Carter, spent a few years in Bethlehem and eventually became a steam driver. It was good to meet up with him while in the area.

We bid farewell to this essay on one of the most photogenic lines in South Africa with this early morning trailing glint

During the 60’s , I went to boarding school in Bethlehem ( from Bloemfontein ) . I trevelled on these steam trains so many times. My father was a steam engine driver on a 15F and during my last year at school and during university in 1972 , I was a stoker during holidays.

My wife is an artist and I hope you don’t mind John but I am going to ask her to paint on of the images for me. She has done one of the farm gate where my granfather lived ( 30km from Bethlehem ) and these mean a lot to me. Thanks for sharing you experineces with us. Absolute stunning .

Hi Schalk,
Thanks for the comment. It must have been great to spend so much time on the amazing South African Steam trains. In 1972 steam would have been even better than when I arrived. Of course you can paint one of the pics. I would appreciate a photo of the finished product!! Thanks again,
John

Gday gloom man,
Haven’t seen you in about 40 years ,remember seeing you at Fassi Hawkmount, Moss Vale,
Cab rode with you in the back of a 44 once on 18 south when the scheduled 38 wasn’t available, think it was the Eveleigh drivers last run and the powers that be were afraid he would carry out his threat to”break the ton”on a 38.!
Regards
Dennis MITCHELL

G’day John: Dennis Mitchelle sent me the link to your website. I found your story of your visits to South Africa very interesting. I worked for the South African Railways in the S A Railway Museum in Johannesburg – we might even have met there while you lived in Johannesburg. I went on pension from the Museum in 1989. Life in South Africa became intolerable because Apartheid was replaced by violent crime and reverse racism. When our immediate family left S A because of crime we decided to follow them and we now all live in Sydney. We are enjoying living in a normal society again where personal safety is not an issue. Charlie Lewis and I run a South African Railway website known as Soul of a Railway. I had been photographing trains in South Africa since 1948 long before it became a popular steam fan destination. In those early years, casual passers by thought that I was crazy – pointing a camera at a train!.
Regards, Les (previous Assistant Curator, S A Railway Museum, Johannesburg.

I am very aware of your excellent work, “Soul of a railway”, and certainly knew Charlie, Peter Stowe, Dusty Durrant, Alan Jorgenson and a few other immortals while I was there. I cannot claim to compete with such elite company, but I have plenty more to contribute from my couple of years in that part of the world.

Although I am not that young anymore, I wasn’t even alive in 1948, so you obviously have an amazing record of steam in South Africa. You are just down the road, so maybe we can catch up some time.

I am enjoying the contacts from old friends who are finding my site one by one.

Oh yes, if you wish contribute something I am more than happy to post it. You can get some link juice for your site and maybe a few more followers.

For me it is also 40 years since we last met. I still remember our trip to Newcastle, staying at Belmont,while we were still at school. You wanted to catch the morning Flyer home, I insisted on the midday. So we missed a 38 and had to put up with a 44.

My ZA experience is limited to electrics so am intrigued to read your article about steam!

FYI I have a timing of yours of a Cadet train from Whittingham which was given to me by the late John Lacey.

I went very quiet rail wise for many years, until Arnie organised a Flyer reunion trip. That inspired me to dust of the old slides and put my stories on the net.

A couple of days ago we had nearly 600 visitors from around the world which was pretty exciting. I had forgotten that we ended up with a diesel back in 1968 I believe. It was not long after that my father passed away. That was the last time I saw him, living in an old shack at Swansea I think.

Compliments of the season to you.
You have a wonderful website. Excellent work! Brings back many memories.
Just one correction. Your shot of 3415 (with the blue smoke deflectors) leaving Barnea is actually 3407. The driver at the time was Leon Bender.
Thank you for sharing your photo’s with us.
Mike Carter

Hi Charlie,
What a fantastic chapter. ( System 3, Part 15 Loodsberg Pass)
Charlie do You mind answering a Question RE. the 19 B Locomotives.
Do You perhaps have any records regarding the accident with 1406.
The reason for My question is that a friend of mine ( Who was a steam Fitter at Midlandia Loco Noupoort in 1973 ) told Me that His Dad ( Driver Myles ) was the Regular Driver of 1406 and He died in a head on collision near Pretorius Kloof. He did mention that the accident happened in the early sixties. He also told Me that 1406 was repaired and was up and running thereafter. I cannot remember which was the opposite Engine in the accident and sadly I have lost contact with Him.

Thanks once again for Your great work to keep the Steam era alive in our minds.
NB: I really enjoy Your comments in the fotos.
Thanks once again.

You will need to look up soul of a railway to find Charlie Lewis. I knew him back in South African steam days, but it was a long time ago. I will be publishing more South African stories in due course.

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